DARPA’s Cheetah Robot Hits New Speeds

Deborah Netburn (great Internet name) of the LA Times reports the following:

A new video released by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency shows the robot, inspired by the anatomy of a cheetah, running as fast as 28.3 mph before it trips and falls on what would be its face, if it had one.

If it’s any consolation, the robo-cheetah is only a bit faster than the human speed record holder: Bolt set the mark at 27.78 mph in 2009, during a 100-meter sprint.

And robo-cheetah has a way to go before it can outrun a real, living, breathing cheetah. A cheetah at the Cincinnati Zoo was recently clocked at 61 mph.

It should also be noted that the robo-cheetah has only been tested on a treadmill in a lab. It doesn’t carry its power source, and it has a boom-like device that holds it up and keeps it in the center of the treadmill.

DARPA said it will be testing out a prototype of the robotic cheetah on natural terrain sometime next year.